GERMANS SMITTEN BY THEIR OWN WEAPON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16010, 31 August 1915, Page 7

GERMANS SMITTEN BY THEIR OWN WEAPON.

THRILLING INCIDENT IN THE RUSSIAN RETIREMENT. _ f • ■■ ■ ■ - .POISON CLOUD DRIVEN BACK ON ENEMY. Turin, August 29. Signor Pisani, the correspondent of the Italian newspaper Stampa with the Russian 1 armies, forwards a graphic narrative of a rearguard fight towards Lublin.. The enemy fortified himself at every step of the advance until the German and Russian trenches were only 300 yds apart. The Russian centre stood in the fields of-AYilkolaz, southward of the railway. Their right stretched along the Ugenova River, their left preserving opportune freedom of movement, being able to converge on the river along two parallel lines formed by the Krasnik Road and the course of the Bystricza. The main force was concentrated on a common centre alo,ng the Krasnik Road, because the lack of any other road impeded the gunners, who were directly sustaining a wing of the Russian front. Five hours' fierce artillery duel was directed to demolishing each other's batteries. The Russian right wing entrenched within 11yds of the river. Ihc soil was saturated with water, and men were soon immersed to their waists, but not a soul quitted his post. On the left, near the deep and treacherous Bystricza, the Bavarians, despite terrible losses from machine-guns, were continually advancing, attempting to force a passage. Finally they threw forward a section behind a hillock only 150 yds away, which hid them from the Russian fire. While the Russians were regulating their fire a Russian officer leapt from the first trench with a number of men, shielding their faces with their hands, and falling forward. The Germans were pouring in new poison gases of a composition unknown. The masks were useless, and the poisonous vapours invaded the trenches. The Russians dropped in files with blackened faces. The left wing being driven to abandon its position, a Bavarian regiment wheeled forward, flung a bridge across the river, and occupied the trenches. Suddenly the wind veered, and the enemy's barbarous weapon recoiled on himself, the poison soon suffocating the Germans, while the Austrian reinforcements were obliged to fall back. The Russian left wing re-formed, and, buoyed by fresh couragc, smashed the bridge with shells, leaving the Bavarians isolated. The Russians advanced with' their bayonets through the trenches, and found that many of their comrades who had fallen fainting owing to the gas fumes had been mercilessly massacred by the Austrians. The carnage lashed the Russians to fury, and they pursued the Bavarians to the Bystricza River bed. Vainly the enemy called for pity—the left bank was swept clean in a few minutes, A so-called Siberian regiment, which in > reality consisted largely of Poles, crossed the ford near Laroveck, and by a superhuman effort routed the enemy.